The Heart of Me

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London before the War. Madeleine (Williams) is set on marrying off her sister Dinah (Bonham Carter) at her earliest convenience, and fully expects her husband Rickie (Bettany) to aid and abet. But the more she presses, the more deeply he's drawn to his sister-in-law's bohemian attitudes and feisty intelligence. Their love affair is passionate and irrevocable, but Madeleine will never agree to a divorce - and there's the child to think of. Adapted from Rosamond Lehmann's 1953 novel The Echoing Grove, this BBC Film digs up some of the cruel candour which distinguished The Wings of the Dove. It is the tragedy of an ordinary, decent man in over his head, trying to do the right thing by the two women in his life but failing quite miserably. It's also the film of two very different sisters, their relationship rooted in jealousy and resentment, who nevertheless edge towards some common cause in love. O'Sullivan is not a director of great visual flamboyance, but he draws out here performances of subtle and complex shading.